Much of what the articles on this site contain is learning how to give our children a “Lifestyle Education through Discipleship” – how to home educate in this specific way, which is very “non-conforming” to the ways of institutionalized, government education. But many times I get asked a much more basic question, where to start home education AT ALL!
Most of you on this list are probably already home educating your
children, and are not asking this particular question anymore. Some of
you aren’t yet, and are just “looking into it,” desperately seeking
answers to this question. Those that are already home educating
probably get asked the questions these next few posts will cover.
Rather than saying, “Call Mrs. Z, our support group leader,” perhaps
you can glean from these posts and pass the info on.
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So you are interested in homeschooling your child? More than likely
you have asked, or want to ask, if you could just find someone to ask,
“How do I homeschool?” Let me tell you, that’s an impossible question
to answer, without asking you many, many questions in return. It is
also not a question that can be answered in 5 minutes, or an hour, or
even in an all day seminar or lengthy article.
But let me use this article to attempt to point you toward some
direction that may help you BEGIN to answer that question. Actually
only YOU can answer that question for yourself/ your family – but not
until you answer many other questions. Perhaps your question is better
rephrased, “How or where to I begin to learn about homeschooling?”
There are 3 main things you are probably asking with the question, “How
do I start homeschooling?” They are: “What does my state require?”
“Where do I get my curriculum?” “What else do I need to know to get
started?” Some parents may not even include the last question, but I
consider it the most important and by far the most extensive. In fact,
I consider the order of these 3 to be in the opposite order as I’ve
listed them above. I can give you a quick answer to finding your
state’s legal “requirements”. I can give you a list of websites or
addresses of curriculum providers, but it would be FAR from exhaustive.
(Actually, I will only give you a few for each of a few different types
of curricula.) There are many thousands, I’m sure. It is an area that
has virtually exploded in the last 10 years or so. But to know which
of these thousands to choose from, that will be the right choice for
your family, will take careful exploration, time, research and prayer
to answer the last question in the above list.
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#1) Again, I do not consider this to be the most important, nor the
first thing you need to know about home education, but it’s the one
most people want the answer to first. “What does my state require?”
People are so used to the government or other “experts” telling them
what they “need” or “have” to do, that they immediately want to know
what the state says they have to do. This is the first misconception
many have, and they feel more obligation to what the state “requires”
for education than what God does. The truth is God gave your children
to YOU, not the state to raise and educate. The state has no valid
authority in education. But since this is an easy enough question to
answer, and probably the first you thought of, I will answer it first.
a) WHERE TO FIND OUT THE HOMESCHOOL LAW FOR ANY STATE –
Home School Legal Defense Association – http://hslda.org/ is a great
organization for home educating parents to join, and has information on
each state’s home school laws on their website. Go to this page, and
click on your state. http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/default.asp
b) WHERE TO GET INFORMATION AND THE NECESSARY FORMS FOR NEBRASKA –
For more info on home education in NE, go to the Nebraska Christian
Home Educators Association (our state homeschool organization) website:
http://nchea.org/ There is a link to the Nebraska Department of
Education website where you can print out the law and the forms.
c) BASIC OVERVIEW OF NE HOMESCHOOL LAW – in layman’s terms – IOW, you need to read over the actual law before you file, but these are the
basics of what you need to do. Home School Legal Defense Association
gives a “legal analysis” at their website.
http://me-and-my-house/led-nelaw.htm
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#2) Where do I get my curriculum?
A second, major general misconception, of those new to home education
is that there is some set standard of books to use, information that
needs to be learned, etc. But there is no such thing. God has
certainly not ordained that every child of age X must learn Y material
or they will be “behind”. And neither is there a set governmental
standard, though some are pushing for such. Each district has its own
set of “requirements” and texts and (or not) – but that’s another issue.
But it leads to the answer to this question. It could be any
one of thousands of places. There are other questions YOU need to
answer before YOU answer this one. Here are some popular answers as to
the TYPES of resources you can use, that may or may not work for you.
I only know of resources for Christian textbook/workbook curricula, for
non-Christian resources you will have to do your own research. See
question #3 for help in deciding which of these types of curriculum is
right for your family.
a) TEXTBOOKS/ WORKBOOKS
These are probably the types of curricula you are most familiar with,
more than likely even the ONLY type you know of. They are the type
used in government and most private schools. One text or set of
workbooks for each grade level in each subject. If you plan to return
your child to the “system” very soon, and if it is very important to you
that your child follow the lock-step regimen of a government type of
education, and you want to continue teaching your child in the ways and
methods used by those institutions whether it is the best way for your
child to learn or not, you probably need to look no further than this
category.
Can you tell I don’t think much of this approach? Although I can’t
deny that there can be some good information in these Christian texts,
I do not believe this method is the best way for children to learn or
parents to teach. I have many reasons that I haven’t the time or space
to go into here. But a primary one is this is not a family-friendly
way to fulfill our God-given responsibility to “train up our children”
in the “education and admonition of the Lord.” But for those of you
that prefer to stay on this same path, here are some of the most
popular. These all come from a conservative Christian viewpoint.
ABeka – http://abeka.com/ – Christian grade-level, subject specific
textbooks. Even has an Academy, DVD program where your child would be
enrolled in their school, and they would receive teaching via DVDs, and
the academy would keep records and issue grades.
Bob Jones – http://www.bjup.com – another Christian grade-level,
subject specific textbook curricula. Bob Jones also has a “satellite”
program for distance learning in a “nationwide classroom.”
Alpha Omega – http://aop.com – this company uses “LifePac” worktexts
instead of textbooks. There are generally 10 LifePac workbooks per
subject, per grade-level. Alpha Omega also now carries other
curricula, Switched on Schoolhouse, which is computer-based instead of
textbooks, and Weaver, which is a Unit Study curriculum covered in part
2.
These are 3 of the most popular. There are many, many more.
b) REAL BOOKS – Here I am using this term a little more loosely than I
use it in describing L.E.D.’s 4 Real Resources. Here I am using it in
the context of, as opposed to textbooks. There are 2 (or more) very
different categories of “real books” users. Using “real books” can be
a more loosely structured type of curricula, or VERY structured,
sometimes more rigorous than a textbook approach. There are MANY, MANY
variations of using “real books” for your curriculum. This can be as
unstructured as just checking out library books on any topic you are
interested in or as structured as following a “Classical Curriculum”
based on great classical literature. I will define some of the
differences in the philosophies or “approaches” (thoughts and ideas of
what education should be and what methods should be used) that
determine which way “real books” are used, when I answer the next
question. Also, I cannot give you specifics on “where” to get the
actual plans for using these books (which is all a “curriculum”
actually is – your plan for teaching) – until I answer question #3.
For now I’ll give you a few ideas of the VAST AMOUNT OF PLACES where to
find various types of “real books”.
libraries – your local public library, university library, interlibrary
loan, church library, “friends’ library” 🙂
bookstores – general bookstores, Christian bookstores, “educational”
bookstores (though not as many “real books” at these), used bookstores, online bookstores – check out the Resources and Recommendations on our website, for ordering through CBD at great discounts.
online – the text for many books, especially older “classics” can be
found online. Also much general information about nearly any topic can
be found there.
We don’t generally recommend, this newest type of “curriculum” – the
Internet Hodge-Podge. Granted, there is much information available on
the “information highway”, but indiscriminately forming a curriculum
based on whatever you can find on the web will not give your child a
comprehensive nor cohesive education, just a “hodge-podge” of unrelated
information. There are many different worldviews, biases, and ideas
about education out there. If you utilize “free” curriculum from any
website you can find with information on the topic, your child will
receive a very confusing education. That said, there is much very good
information on the “net”. But you must use much discernment and
discretion in choosing “what” to use, and do much research to find what
is worthy.
Part 2 will answer our 3rd question – and give you an idea of the
different “methods” of home education, that will determine the types of
resources you will use (and the specific places you can find them).
Well, I’ll give you a very brief start on it anyhow.
For more detailed information on the types of curriculum and methods of
teaching, and just plain differing ideas (philosophies) of home
educating, order our workshop audio, “Introduction to L.E.D.”
